A public beta version of a new tool that enables users to learn how building and infrastructure projects can “radically reduce embodied carbon” was released at Greenbuild this month.
The Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (“EC3”) delivers the first digitized EPDs for construction materials in a platform designed to accelerate early adoption, according to a news release from the Carbon Leadership Forum. The free, open-access tool is based on the industry’s first database of digitized Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
Unlike operational carbon emissions, which can be reduced over time with building energy-efficiency renovations and the use of renewable energy, embodied carbon emissions are locked in place as soon as a building is built. Embodied carbon will be responsible for almost half of total new construction emissions between now and 2050, according to Architecture 2030.
EC3 is the first free tool that allows for supply chain-specific analysis of embodied carbon data, using the first searchable and sortable database of all United States and Canadian Environmental Product Declarations for concrete, steel, wood, glass, aluminum, insulation, gypsum, carpet, and ceiling tiles. It is the first tool to create a digital EPD form and to translate all EPDs into that form for viewing and analyzing data. Previously, users had to work with PDF-based EPDs.
Related Stories
| May 17, 2012
New standard for Structural Insulated Panels under development
ASTM International and NTA, Inc. are developing a new standard for Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) that would create a path for U.S. manufacturers to meet the requirements of the Canadian building code.
| May 17, 2012
Webinar: ‘What Energy Codes and Standards Are Adopted Where and by Whom’
A June 12 webinar by the Construction Specifications Institute will outline what energy codes and standards have been adopted in each of the states for commercial buildings, and what is anticipated to be adopted in the future.
| May 17, 2012
California Governor orders new green standards on state buildings
California Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order recently that calls for all new or renovated state buildings of more than 10,000 sf to achieve LEED Silver or higher and incorporate clean, onsite power generation.
| May 17, 2012
New Zealand stadium roof collapse blamed on snow, construction defects
Heavy snowfall, construction defects, and design problems contributed to the collapse of the Stadium Southland roof in New Zealand in September 2010, a report has found.
| May 17, 2012
OSHA launches fall prevention campaign
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently launched an educational campaign to prevent deadly falls in the construction industry.
| May 15, 2012
Suffolk selected for Rosenwald Elementary modernization project
The 314-student station elementary school will undergo extensive modernization.
| May 10, 2012
Chapter 6 Energy Codes + Reconstructed Buildings: 2012 and Beyond
Our experts analyze the next generation of energy and green building codes and how they impact reconstruction.
| May 10, 2012
Resilience should be considered a sustainability factor
Since a sustainable building is one you don't have to rebuild, some building sustainability experts believe adding points for "resilience" to storms and earthquakes to the LEED sustainability rating tool makes sense.
